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Dear Editor: Frustrated With Hospital Board

The Tahoe Forest Hospital Board selected an advisory committee to help in the selection of a permanent CEO at a recent special meeting in a 3-2 vote. The board claims to want to include community members in the discussions, but did not include one community member on the advisory committee. The committee is composed of hospital staff and two doctors, one who is under contract with the hospital, so each member has a personal stake in the outcome. To top this off, at the April 28 regular meeting, the board voted 3-2 to promote a cancer center doctor to director with an increase in salary. How many directors does the cancer center need and who are they directing? The problem is that there was no backup material to support this move and the person from the cancer center urging the board to vote yes gave no facts that could be documented and blew through a few numbers that nobody understood. Is this the kind of board we want, the kind that will approve stuff on somebody’s say so?

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Tahoe Forest Hospital Board is not the least bit interested in the community, but only what best benefits the doctors and administrators and how they can best gouge the community. Kudos to the board members who have the courage to say no.

Reader comments so far...

As a community member at large who was initially asked( but then ignored) about interest in serving on the advisory committee I must agree that refusal of certain directors to broaden their horizons towards a more realistic approach to affordable essential rural health care is disappointing in the least. The majority of the Hospital Board seems stuck in the mud of a self-serving past. There will be another election next year; and it will be up to those who really care for the health of our community to vote for change.

At the last TFHD Board meeting the Executive Searcher guy said he had never previously had so much community input. There were numerous public meetings to solicit ideas, as well as an email address for comments. Doctors of all persuasions were asked for opinions, as well as employees at all levels. The small group of hospital bashers were probably given a chance too.
I hope folks will give up their personal vendettas and let the hospital get back to business.

Hospital Bashers?????What????? From my point of view those "hospital Bashers" seem to be working to get an affordable hospital for the people who pay for it. Let's see Drs at all levels (do they come in levels?)
employees at all levels ( that I get) If I was a hospital employee or a Dr. paid by the hospital, wow I sure wouldn't want anything to change. I don't know anybody who wants to do harm to TFH but I think are a bunch of self serving, egotistical, entitled folks who ( at least they think they are) are doing the most harm. They believe their own proclamations and refuse to discuss, like civilized folks. important issues. Some have even stooped to name calling. Very childish. It looks like the hospital will not survive in the long haul unless some major changes are made. Somebody set it on a path that continues down hill. How many "administrators", consultants and "go fers" do we need. It looks like the deck chairs on the Titanic are being arranged.

Five Star Patient Satisfaction Rating- one of very few in the entire state.
Strong financial stability, both on a P and L basis, and on the Balance Sheet - better than 90% of California's rural hospitals. (Please read the financial statements, and not listen to "opinions" of certain members of the public.)
Clinical offerings nearly unheard of without visiting a major city.
A new and earthquake compliant facility.
They look pretty good to me...

Apparently yo yo man is reading a different set of financial statements than the rest of the lowlife community. This may surprise you but this community is not stupid. They want to trust but that has been lost. Congratulations.
Nobody is questioning "quality" but WoW patients continue to shop for hospital care and that translates into fewer dollars for TFH. Head out of sand people. Clinical offerings WOW at what price this glory?
Now that you bring it up.....Measure C might just have been the biggest boondoggle in the history of Truckee.
I cannot understand why a small community like Truckee ( and surrounds) should have one of THE most expensive hospitals for a community of this size. Who are we trying to attract? Maybe if we just took some of the "hospital folks" and put their name on a couple of buildings or conference rooms they would be happy and start to listen or maybe they would just go away and bend over some other community.

Since the patient satisfaction rating has been brought up, does anyone know how much the TFH administration pays for that and all the surveys done by this company in Indiana. Is the response rate ever documented? Do dissatisfied patients bother with surveys or do they just complain in person? I always contacted BS directly about problems with administration.

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About Opinion

The Opinion Page is your place to spout off. This section contains letters to the editor and longer My Shot pieces. Also, the Spout features two bimonthly perspectives — In the Past, delving into Tahoe Truckee history, and In the Moment, an artistic musing of a moment today.